At this week's Beef Roundtable Bord Bia’s Mark Zeig gave an update on the latest situation regarding cattle numbers in the country.

The data presented by Zieg showed the number of male cattle in the 24-36 month age category up by over 38,000 head on 2016 while heifers in the same category are up over 36,000 head.

In the 12-24 month category male cattle numbers are registered as being up by over 38,000 while female numbers are up over 16,000 head.

Meanwhile, the number of male cattle under 12 months old is down by over 12,000 head on 2016 while female cattle in the same category are up some 34,000 head.

Source: Bord Bia

Zeig also told delegates at the Beef Roundtable that calf registrations so far in 2017 are up by 1.3pc mostly driven by an expanding dairy sector.

Cattle supplies at Irish export meat plants for the week ending July 8 reached over 32,000 head which was down on the previous week but up 5pc compared to year previous levels.

Source: Bord Bia

Cumulative throughputs are up 5pc or 40,000 head standing at around 869,000 head.

Largest cumulative increases were seen for cull cows which are up 11pc year on year followed by steers and heifers up by 7pc and 4pc respectively. In contrast supplies of young bulls are back 8pc compared to the same period in 2016.